Uncharted 3 serves up it's antagonist!

So I'm sure everybody's heard by now of Uncharted 3's new villain: Katherine Marlowe, and in true action adventure fashion, she's of course British. call me crazy, but I recall at least what was presented as the main antagonist the first Uncharted being British also... So what we're looking at here is either Naughty Dog just not liking English people, a stereotypical villain background for an action/adventure film, or, and much more intrestingly... A relation between the two? It all seems possible, since she seems keen to get Drake's ring in the trailer below, and the ring was heavily involved in the first games shenanigans. I don't quite know what to expect from this woman, but It's nice to see Phil Mitchell getting some work!


On another note, Drake and Sully are awfully well dressed for this scene, perhaps this hints to a new aspect of gameplay where players search for clues from people in the world? Or just a section at a posh bar where some ol Drake antics occur! Either way, it's got me pumped for Uncharted 3, and I'm sure getting a PS3 before it's comes out this November.



Serde~

Image credit: playstationlifestyle.net

Reactions

Dear readers:

If you read our articles every now and again, or just find yourself enthrawled by one, you may not feel inclined to create a blogger account just to comment. We here at The Arcade of Awesome totally understand, and apreciate that it's too much hassle. So what our fantastic writer here at AoA, Tom has done is install this spiffy reactions panel onto every post. So even if you don't want to comment, a mere click will give us an idea of what you'd like us to improve! It's very important that our articles are at least entertaining any readers, if you are inspired to comment, please don't hold back! In the meantime however, please give us some criticism or praise if deserved through the reactions panel!

Thanking you muchly!

~Serde

Self-Conscious Gaming?

Self-Conscious Gaming?

Repercussions of Nintendo's Re-Branding.

Like most of my generation, my first console was purchased in the Nineties and was manufactured by a certain Japanese company known as Nintendo. As my introduction to the magical world of video games, I've always had a soft spot for Nintendo and everything that comes with it. Years and hundreds of hours of Mario, Samus, and Donkey Kong later, my love of the company has diminished, but, while I was puzzled by the Gamecube and cringed for the Wii, I've still held high hopes for the future of “hardcore” gamers with Nintendo consoles. With the announcement of 3DS details and the launch of the system looming on the horizon, though, I've been doing some thinking about Nintendo and more specifically on the question, “Why don't I want to play DS in public?”

I'd like to think that I'm a well-versed gamer: I've played my share of most genres, and I'm comfortable with my nerdy trivia knowledge of games past and present. If I play DS in public, though, I feel like I've got to show the screen to everyone around me just to try to convince them that I'm not playing one of the many movie tie-ins or kids' games that have been released for the handheld. Perhaps the very fact that my youth was punctuated by the Gameboy chime makes me think feel slightly childish while playing, and it doesn't help when games require me to pull out the stylus or blow into the mircophone. In the self-conscious world we live in, Nintendo seems to have fallen from the cool side to the less than cool side.

When you look at the sales numbers, the DS won the handheld console war with no questions asked, but while those numbers don't lie about the total sales, one has to wonder how many of those were sold to “actual” gamers. How many soccer moms and grandparents were lured in by Brain Training or Crossword DS? How many bright pink systems were sold to gradeschool-aged girls? If I had a nickle for every seven-year-old walking around with a DS, I might be a rich man. Nintendo has made millions by appealing to a new audience, but they've diluted their customer base to the point that there's no way that they can make everyone happy. The problem is that when the casual gamers don't see something interesting in the new system, they melt back into the teeming masses of non-gamers, while the unhappy hardcore will grumble as they play their Kid Icarus and assortment of remakes. Nintendo knows where the big money is, and they're going to go after it whenever they can.

It will be hard for me to pass up the 3DS when it comes out in a few months, but the more I think about it, the more it makes sense. Nintendo is slowly but steadily moving toward the casual market, and those of us on the fringe are going to have to start moving one way or another. We'll either have to start playing those Brain Training games, or we'll have to move on to bigger and brighter things. It should be interesting to see how Nintendo will respond to Sony's announcement of the NGP, or what amounts to the PSP 2. Will Nintendo take this as the chance to win gamers back over with an experience that puts them back into competition with Sony's software support. I never though I would say this, but Nintendo has some catching up to do.

--Tom

Beamed Into Your Home By The Onlive Overlords!

 Beamed into Your Home By The Onlive Overlords!

It's Out There, But Does it Matter?

Granted, the cloud-based game streaming service Onlive never really set the gaming world on fire when it was announced almost a year ago, but I expected a little more press and interest when the possibly revolutionary system finally launched. For those not familiar with Onlive, imagine Steam mixed with Youtube. The service allows you to download and play games a variety of triple- A titles through the power of cloud computing. When you make a controller input, the signal is sent to some distant Onlive HQ via the power of the internet (a series of tubes, remember). Onlive then streams the game's visuals back to your computer. The game itself runs, not on your system, but on the powerful computers supplied by Onlive, and this means that even a standard non-gaming laptop like mine can run resource intensive games without breaking a sweat.

From what I've seen, though, Onlive has been met by little more than sniff from those all-important gaming journalistic cabals with three letter acronyms or names ending in “spot.” I suppose that we've all been complicit in this collective neglect, though, and I'm among the offenders. I downloaded the Onlive client over a month ago, but never bothered to open it or look at it until just this afternoon. The shortcut icon blended into my desktop, and it was only by coincidence that I remembered it was even there. Before I'm too hard on myself, though, I should say that it wasn't for lack of trying that I've left Onlive alone. Honestly, it's just a little hard to deal with: I can't connect to the service from my home internet. Despite being fast enough for nearly every other online activity, my connection was found wanting by Onlinve and rejected. The only place where I can get the thing to work is at my school, and that clearly makes bringing a gamepad and finding the extra time a little harder.

When everything is going well, however, Onlive is a joy to work with. Not only can you purchase some of the latest games for prices that compare well to Steam, you can also play a 30 minute demo of any game before you decide to purchase. Onlive also allows you to post short videos of you playing a game to their “Brag Clip” section where other players can view your “leet skills” and whatnot. In compliment to this feature, there is an “Arena” section where you can spectate other players live. All around, I like the atmosphere of the application: it feels sleek and streamlined, perhaps even more so than the somewhat awkward Steam.

What Steam does have, though, is selection. While Steam is the established digital distribution service for PC games, Onlive is just a startup, and they're going to have to put in a lot of work if they plan to mount a successful challenge to Valve's brainchild. In the seven months since its release, Onlive has added just over 60 games to its library, while, in the same amount of time, Steam has added over 100 games to its already sizable library. What Onlive has that Steam doesn't is a ten-dollar-per-month deal that gives you access to a group of some of the most recent games added to the service. Right now, though, the “PlayPack” includes such gems as F.E.A.R. 2, Prince of Persia, and Unreal Tournament 3, but those aren't exactly the most recent titles. Most of the other options in the Playpack are games you've probably never heard of, so the value of the deal will really depend on how willing you are to play games just because they're there.

Admittedly, the usefulness of this platform is somewhat limited by the necessity to be connected to the web at all times. If you're got problems with multiplayer lagging, now you'll be getting the exact same problems in all portions of the game. I probably won't be using Onlive just because of the inconvenience, but if you don't mind the drawbacks, Onlive could very well be a glimpse of gaming future.

--Tom

Minecraft Makes a Million

Minecraft Makes a Million

Indie Beta Bags a Bunch of Builders

Seldom do independently developed games sell over a million copies, less frequently still, do pre-release versions of any game sell copies as profusely as did Minecraft, a game about construction, creativity, and world building. Minecraft, which entered its beta stage of development in late December, is, in my opinion, a fantastic achievement for the video game industry. While I have no problem with first person shooters, it's refreshing to see a first person perspective game whose focus is not on destruction, but on creation. Minecraft crossed the million-sold mark this past week.

Minecraft offers an open world for you to make your own by building whatever happens to strike your fancy. Like a simulated version of an unlimited supply of Lego blocks, its charm and versatility are both comfortable and daunting. Undertaking your castle, villa, or island can be quite the feat, but the rewards for bringing your creations into life can be one of the most satisfying in gaming today. You've got to be a self starter to really get into Minecraft, and while it may at first seem like this game might not be for everyone, there seem to be over a million people for whom Minecraft is a perfect fit.

The current version of Minecraft is available for purchase on the developer's official website: Minecraft.net. The Beta will cost you €20, which comes out to about $20 or £12, but if you're just interested in looking into the matter, you can play the classic version of the game for free. Classic Minecraft can be downloaded on the Minecraft website, and will allow you to build, but does not include many of the features of the paid version. The full game is, though, is under constant improvement and development, and is, dare I say, falling into place block by block. I look forward to seeing where the game will take us next, and it can do you no harm to take a look for yourself.

Visit the Minecraft Website

--Tom

Image courtesy of ZFGoku SSJ1

Sega finally announced the Dreamcast collection... Yay?

Okay, it's been 12 years since the dreamcast released, and 9 since the console fizzled out in the west. That's a fair time for a collective release of a consoles definitive titles wouldn't you say? Sure, it took till 2009 for the megadrive, but at least that had almost the best selection possible, 40 odd top quality games? It was glorious, and whats more, nostalgic. So when the rumour surfaced that a Dreamcast collection was impending impact upon the world, well, it was like a sneeze but better.

The idea of a Dreamcast collection is brilliant for a gamer such as myself who picked the console up for it's short life-span. The Dreamcast, whilst not the hit Sega was hoping for, is definitely one of the most iconic consoles in the buisness, even if it's to show manufacturers what not to do. The Dreamcast is a console in the same way that the Atari Jaguar was. They're developed in-between generations like a quirky middle child. They're slightly smarter than their older brother, but socially inept compared to the younger sister. Or in smarter terms, both consoles came out with double the hardware capabilities of the current generation, only to fall prey to the next generation that was about to swoop in anyway a year or so later with better tech.

The Dreamcast has some brilliant games, Sonic, Phantasy Star, Space Channel 5, Snow Surfers, Metropolis Street Racer, Toy Commander... There are so many games on the console that stood out in my childhood, even if I only played the demo, the Dreamcast was a haven for innovative idea's at the time because Sega was looking to provide something different and more engaging for their audience so the console would sell. I mean, I recall a game where you raced penguins around ice-caps, penguins who wore clothes too. I mean, that's my type of zany, and thats a type of zany I can get behind, and get behind it I did by buying the damn thing.

So as you can imagine, the Dreamcast collection is a dream (pun intended) for me, so many great titles on one disc would be brilliant, it would restore my faith in Sega as more than a publisher of great games, but a creator too...

But... Guess. Guess what's on this thing coming out next month, just guess! Guess how Sega have messed it up!

On the Dreamcast collection, there is the substantial sum of four titles. FOUR titles. To rub salt in the wound, these aren't even titles we haven't seen for years, no, they're the titles that are already on the xbla and psn services! At the end of February next month, we'll be seeing Sonic Adventure, Crazy Taxi, Sega Bass Fishing and Space Channel 5: Part 2 all on one disc!

Sega... I'm only asking for a Dreamcast ultimate collection here... Please! That being said... I'll probably buy it anyway because i love those titles... Apart from Sega Bass Fishing... Who the hell wanted Sega Bass Fishing to be re-released anyway?

...Bloody Sega Bass Fishing taking up my Power Stone and Fur Fighters slot on the disc...

Roll on February 25th for the U.K. and Europe and the 22nd for the U.S. !

- Serde

Image credit: arstechnica.com and caratulas.info respectively

A notice to anyone who likes the comic

If you have been willingly reading the comic here on the blog, you're in for a treat!

... Well, you're in for more comics anyway!

The comic has become a beast that i must update daily at: http://aoacomic.smackjeeves.com/

Be sure to check back daily for a dose of Video Game Humour from your friendly neighbourhood Serde!

The Arcade of Anime?

Are we changing our name?

Short answer, no.

However, in the "Arcade of Anime" article's we'll be looking at games that are to be imported here from japan.

Why "Arcade of Anime" then? Because the name has a nice ring to it!

The 3rd Birthday
___________
Format(s): psp

The first game we're going to take a look at is the third, and latest installment in the parasite eve series, the second of which was released back on the playstation one. Square Enix describes the game as a "cinematic action rpg" which is all well and good considering the game is within an rpg series that was made to be cinematic, featured role playing elements and focused on action. The change however is that the battle system from the first two games has been ripped out and replaced with 3rd person shooting. Now, i'm fine with this, but on the psp? I understand that there have been "successes" in the 3rd person shooting arena on the psp with the likes of resistance: retribution and the syphon filter series, however they were still "good... For the psp". I guess it's a big risk revamping a decade old series that wasn't the best recieved, so the cheaper handheld route has to be the way they go. I digress, the set-up for the game is that beasts have descended on manhattan, and it's up to our protagonist Aya to defend the place. Watch this space for more details before the game hits our stores in May 2011

Ghost Trick
_________________
Format(s): Nintendo DS

Ghost Trick - Phantom Detective is a game from Capcom that centres around our friendly neighbourhood Sissel. He's... Well, he's a bit dead. Now don't you think this'll stop him though as our Sissel, he's up for a challenge. So he decides to dedicate the rest of his ghostly life to helping protect the lives of innocent people, the alive ones that is. All in the meantime he is trying to find out how he died, and why. The story is said to be quite gripping, and it sounds like it'll hold anyone to the edge of their... DS? The gameplay takes the form of a murder mystery. Each level, someone has been killed and it's up to the player to prevent that death. Sissel can travel back 4 minutes prior to the killing within a small radius to try and stop it, and can also posses inanimate objects with his ghostly powers. It all sounds very interesting, and i can't wait to have a go. Out in Japan right now if you fancy importing, Ghost Trick is out in the west in Mid January! Keep an eye out.


Thus concludes this Arcade of Anime!

Seeya folks!

-Serde

Image credit: gamerfront.com, gamerant.com

Red, White, Blue, and Green?

Captain America: Red, White, Blue, and Green?
Can Captain America be successful in the modern world?

Watching the new Comic-Con footage for the upcoming Captain America game, you would be forgiven if you first think that the game is being developed by Rocksteady, the developer behind last year's Batman: Arkham Asylum. The similarities run deeper than the mere aesthetics of the games' dilapidated locales, extending to the “free-form” combat and the focus on acrobatics and cinematic presentation. Rocksteady is, however, hard at work on the sequel to Arkham Asylum, and the developer working on the title is a company called Next Level Games. Now, no one needs to be running around throwing out allegations of plagiarism, the guys over at Next Level Games are quick to admit that some of their design decisions were based on what had worked well in Batman, but can the things that worked for Batman translate to a Captain America game?

Perhaps the single greatest obstacle that Captain America has to overcome is his own nature. Cap is, in some ways, a relic of past propaganda, and the world has significantly changed since his debut. Batman is currently at the height of his popularity and the millions of copies that his game sold are partially a reflection of his current status at the top of DC Comics stable of superheroes. Batman reached acclaim by embracing the dark side of his nature, but Captain America by definition has little to draw from in that department. The character is based on nationalistic pride and, from what we've seen of the game so far, the game doesn't even try to tap into a dark mood. What the game reminds me of more than anything is the new Bioshock game. The only difference is that Bioshock is intentionally attempting to present its world as one of patriotic fanaticism, while Captain America seems to present that outdated view without the irony it necessitates.

To be fair, Arkham Asylum didn't plumb any new depths in storytelling either. The world of comics is particularly suited for story exhaustion: with new issues being published all the time, comic book writers have to struggle to come up with original ideas. At least Batman being trapped in Arkham is a plot that hasn't already been played out, Cap running around beating up Nazis who aren't actually called Nazis isn't very interesting. Captain America was introduced during the atrocities of the second world war and throughout the war, could be found beating the living daylights out of racial stereotypes. If the allies had a nickle for every Axis-of-Evil minion with a skull cracked by Cap's shield and fists, the war would have ended two years sooner.

It's hard to criticize a game that exists only as an alpha build, but I still question the feasibility of the game and, indeed, the film that that game plans to capitalize on. Perhaps it's not fair to compare the title to a game that is the best-reviewed superhero video-game of all time, but Captain America: Super Soldier will certainly have to do a lot to prove its worth. At this point, there's not a lot of information to go on, so all we can do is speculate, but the details will be revealed as we get closer to the July 2011 release date. What do you think about the future of Captain America? What do you think about the upcoming game? Let me know what you think in the comments section below.

--Tom

Image source: Marvel.com

All Points Bulletin Shuts Down Its Servers

All Points Bulletin Shuts Down Its Servers
An MMO falls in the forest.

Chrono Trigger is a classic game; some would say that it numbers among the best games of all time. When re-released on the Nintendo DS in 2008, Chrono Trigger sold thousands of copies and was critically acclaimed as one of the best RPGs of the year. Critics were not, however, raving about another Role-Playing-Game that came out on the same month in 1995: The Realm Online. The Realm was one of the first massively multiplayer online games to be released, but despite breaking ground in this multimillion dollar genre, The Realm Online has fallen into an obscurity that is not uncommon for games of its type. At the end of the day, MMOs are one of the most transitory forms of video game entertainment on the market today.

The careful balance that online games must overcome has recently been exemplified by the closing of All Points Bulletin, an online game for the PC. If you haven't heard of APB, you may forgive yourself: it was only launched this June. In the short span of three months, APB ran its course and servers were disconnected on the 23 of September, leaving customers without a game to play. The developer, Realtime Worlds (the company behind the first Crackdown game), ran into financial trouble while creating APB and their assets are currently being prepared for liquidation. Those of us who were unlucky enough to pick up the game, which got poor to middle-of-the-road reviews from most outlets, were left with nothing but a worthless disc and an empty wallet.

This unfortunate circumstance highlights a key problem with the idea of the MMO. In a hundred years, someone can pick up a copy of Halo and, providing that there are any functioning Xbox consoles, can still play the single-player portion of the game. Online-only games, like APB, are limited the availability of other players and servers to host the game. In a hundred years, not even the enormously popular World of Warcraft will be functioning.

When Realtime Worlds put out All Points Bulletin, they needed a major seller in order to keep the company in the black: what they needed was a large group of first-adopters. The problem with this plan is that first-adopters tend to be burned when games fail or turn out to be unpopular; many people who have been first-adopters in the past, will wait to see if a game is a success before they purchase a new release. Now this strategy might be good for the individual, but things quickly spiral downward if a large number of people take this course of action. To illustrate, check out the figure below.



This construct is a classic Nash equation from the field of Game Theory, a portion of science dedicated to studying the way humans cooperate. In the situation above, it would seem like your best option would always be to wait for the game: you can always get it later if things work out, and if they don't work out, you haven't wasted any money. In reality, however, if everyone takes the optimal path, events will end up in the bottom-right corner, where businesses fail and people lose jobs. Sometimes, people stay in the top-left box, this outcome may be influenced by hype, quality, community, or any of a long list of other factors. In the end, though, the first box would probably have been better for everyone.

So, whose fault is it that Realtime Worlds had to close its doors? I'm afraid that not even game theory can lay the principle blame on anyone but Realtime Worlds itself. MMOs are constantly facing the Nash equations, and some of them win out. Starting up an online game is never going to be easy, but hinging the future of your company on the success of an online game is a recipe for disaster. Giving a game three months of support will never be enough time to let it show its true colors. APB is just another casualty in a fight for the subscription fees of the masses; rest in peace, All Points Bulletin. Sometimes it's not all fun and games in the video game business.

--Tom

Picture credit: www.guardian.co.uk

How Much Will the 3DS Cost?

How Much Will the 3DS Cost?
Some simple math and a price point.


Nintendo's recent announcement and subsequent media storm surrounding their new portable gaming console, the 3DS, have lead to both fan-boy delight and skeptical scoffing. The first big announcement came at E3, when the Big N first gave us a look at the 3DS. While the external design of the unit might not have changed significantly, it was clear from playable demos and in-game video that the system's processing power had been upgraded. Footage of upcoming games seem to show graphical capabilities that approach or rival the PlayStation 2.

All of this information was given out at the Nintendo press conference in June. What is new, however, is the news of the launch price point. On September 29, Nintendo released the intended Japanese price and launch date. The system will hit store shelves in Japan on February 23, 2010, and will set you back 25,000 Yen. For those of us who don't know the exchange rate, that translates into about 300 US dollars (200 British pounds). The 3DS may have similar capability to that of the Playstation 2, and it will, apparently, attempt to bank on those similarities by retailing for the same initial price that the PS2 came at nearly ten years ago. The 3DS may try to capitalize on a few commonalities, but it's certainly got its own message for the gaming world: get out of my way.

The Nintendo DS is the best selling game console of all time. You can hardly turn around without bumping into a child half your height whose eyes are focused intently on the back-lit dual screens. When the original DS was released in November 2004, it was a major success, selling over one million units in the first month. If launched at the equivalent price in dollars, the 3DS would be exactly twice the price of the original DS. Can the 3DS sell as many copies as the old DS when the price has skyrocketed? How much will the 3DS cost when it comes across the Pacific? An educated guess will either require a little math or skipping to the final two paragraphs.

The original DS sold for $150 in the States and 15,000 Yen in in Japan. The 3DS will sell for 25,000 Yen and an unknown amount of dollars. To make any assumptions about the American price, we'll have to assume that the ratio between the Japanese and American prices will be the same (quite the limitation, but there's little else to work with). First, we can determine the ratio of change between the Yen prices (15,000/25,000), the answer comes out to 0.6. Now, we can apply that ratio to the American price (150*0.6), our final amount will be the increase in cost, which turns out to be $90 dollars. So, based on these equations, the 3DS price will be 240 US dollars (or, about 150 pounds).

When the PSP Go debuted for $250, it was met with almost universal derision, can a new DS costing just ten dollars less expect anything different? The DS has an uphill climb, but it offers some good reasons not to give up hope: the 3D technology is likely to wow consumers and gamers are already salivating over the games that are set to make up its library. Maybe it will pull in the cash and maybe it won't, but Nintendo has a proven track record of reaching new audiences with innovative technology, and there's no real reason to doubt that the 3DS will be any different. Still, all of this is cold comfort to those of us who shelled out the extra cash for a DSi, the 3DS may sport many of the same features, but the rise of the new console will undoubtedly signal the obsolescence of the old.

What do you think? What price would you be willing to pay for the new Nintendo handheld? Are you planning to boycott the 3DS and wait for the “3DS Light” or equivalent? Tell us in the comment section below.

--Tom

You tube?

Yes, The Arcade of Awesome has stepped up in the world. Or down, depending on your views. We now have our very own youtube channel! Complete with moving pictures and sound! Oh, and me making an arse of myself on camera!

Here's the channel:
http://www.youtube.com/user/ArcadeofAwesome

Happy hunting!

-Serde